Seoul, Beijing to hold defense chiefs talks in Feb.

By Jung Sung-ki

The defense ministers from South Korea and China will hold talks by February to discuss regional security issues, including North Korea’s attack on a South Korean island in the West Sea, a government official said Sunday.

The talks in Beijing will come amid heightened tension on the peninsula in the wake of North Korea’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last month. The attack killed four South Koreans.

The incident also resulted in tense relations between Seoul and Beijing, as China was lukewarm in criticizing the North’s provocation while complaining about the South’s military drills near land and sea borders.

“Working-level officials will meet in January to set the agenda for the talks between Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie,” the official was quoted by Yonhap as saying, adding the date of the meeting has not been set.

The Ministry of National Defense issued a statement that both countries have yet to discuss details of the defense ministers’ talks.

Seoul and Beijing have been discussing the matter since the second half of this year and the meeting was delayed by the Nov. 23 artillery attack and the replacement of South Korea's defense minister.

At the Beijing meeting, South Korea is expected to ask China to “act responsibly” in order to stem any additional provocative acts by North Korea, said the official.

“The defense ministers will likely exchange views on the North Korean attack and Pyongyang's torpedoing of a South Korean naval vessel, though the meeting will focus on bilateral defense cooperation and peace in Northeast Asia,” he said.

The last defense ministers' meeting between South Korea and China was held in Beijing in May last year.

Since December 2008, South Korea and China have operated military hotlines between their navies and air forces.

The establishment of 24-hour telephone hotlines was agreed upon in April 2007 at talks between the defense chiefs of the two countries held in Beijing as part of efforts to build confidence between the two militaries.